House panel seeks charges for tech official over emails
A congressional committee on Thursday asked the Justice Department to consider criminally prosecuting the head of a technology services company that was involved in maintaining a private email server for Hillary Clinton.
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee accused Colorado-based Platte River Networks and its chief executive, Treve Suazo, of withholding documents demanded under subpoena and of obstructing the committee’s investigation “at every turn.”
The allegations were made in a referral to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Kenneth Eichner, a lawyer for the company, said he was confident the Justice Department had “moved on,” but he declined to comment further.
A referral for prosecution from Congress has no practical impact on the Justice Department, which decides on its own whether evidence exists to investigate a matter or to pursue criminal charges. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Thursday.
The FBI in July closed its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server without recommending charges for the former secretary of state or anyone else. But since then, GOP-led congressional committees have made multiple referrals to the Justice Department for potential prosecution.
One referral sought an investigation into whether Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, had lied to Congress. A second referral was about whether Clinton or others who worked with her played a role in the deletion of thousands of her emails. In February, another referral was sent seeking criminal charges against the computer specialist who helped establish Clinton’s email server.
Democrats have called the referrals politically motivated and a waste of time.
Still, the new letter from the committee chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, holds the prospect of reviving the divisive, politically charged debate over the Clinton email investigations and shows the lingering anger from members of Congress over those probes.
In the letter, Smith alleges that Suazo and his lawyer repeatedly turned aside demands for documents without making any “valid legal arguments.”
Smith said he would not tolerate an obstruction of a congressional investigation.
“We cannot allow companies with valuable information to stonewall us in our oversight efforts,” Smith said in a statement.